Philip Hammond hints government will ease up on austerity

Chancellor says Tories 'not deaf' to election result, and left open possibility of raising taxes to fund more generous spending

The chancellor, Philip Hammond, hinted on Sunday that the government would ease up on its austerity programme, saying the Conservatives were "not deaf" to the message delivered by the election result.

In interviews in which he also criticised Theresa May's team for sidelining him during the election campaign, Hammond said that he accepted that "people are weary of the long slog".

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